I've been thinking more about this story. It is a amazing that a politician went this far away from his people, party, and previous political ally--to do the right thing.

The only similar even that I can think of is Canada's replacement of the Manufacturers Sales Tax with the Goods & Services Tax circa 1990. This tax change was very much hated by the Canadian public, yet prime minister Mulroney and his PC party stayed the course. The party was almost wiped out in the next election: the new tax was one of several reasons.

The taxation change made it possible for the Canadian auto industry to better integrate with the American auto industry.

There will be books written about Petkov's work, if not already. It seems to be case of how to do things that are unpopular.